Having finished his final confrontation with his half-brother, Rest returned to the Rosemary marquis household with his body reinforced by magic.
It was already evening by the time Rest arrived back at the Rosemary marquis estate, but two familiar figures were waiting for him at the entrance.
"Oh, Rest!"
"Lord Rest!"
"Hm? You two were waiting for me?"
Rest's eyes went wide at the sight of Viola and Primula standing before the entrance.
He hadn't told them what time he'd be returning... How long had they been waiting?
"Ah, well... We were worried after all. You went to that place, didn't you?"
"Since only the carriage came back, we thought something must have happened!"
Viola spoke with a sheepish look, while Primula sounded slightly angry.
The grim, combative feelings that had filled Rest moments ago were swept clean away, and warm emotions welled up from deep within his chest.
He was accepted. There were people who worried about him.
He'd never imagined that could feel so wonderful.
"Sorry for worrying you. But... thanks to you all, I was able to settle things properly."
Rest took both their hands and spoke in a gentle tone.
The rings he had gifted them glinted on their clasped palms.
"Those people won't be entangled in my life anymore. I'm sure of it."
His father was a magic supremacist and an authoritarian to boot.
As the fiancé of the marquis household's daughters, and now standing above the son he'd sired, there was no way his father would provoke him.
There was a possibility her stepmother would do something foolish, but she was a small-time player. What could she really do anyway?
(And as for Cedric…)
The Cedric Eberun that Rest knew no longer existed in this world.
He would never again show his face before Rest and the Rosemary sisters.
"So… it's all right now. Thank you…"
"………"
Rest was smiling gently, but… the Rosemary sisters' expressions clouded ever so slightly.
They must have thought that Rest was forcing himself to put on a brave front, after cutting ties with and casting aside the people who were, for better or worse, his family.
"Alright! Then today, let's all celebrate by taking a bath together!"
"A… a bath?"
"That's right! Think of it as washing away everything we don't need anymore! Let's come out feeling fresh and clean!"
Viola's face was bright red as she made that suggestion.
Rest was stunned by Viola's tomato-colored face.
"That's a wonderful idea! As expected of big sister!"
Primula agreed immediately.
She had her hands clasped together, her face beaming with a full smile.
"Rest, you're taking a new step forward, so let's all take a bath together with a completely fresh outlook! Don't worry, we're your fiancées after all!"
"W-well… we were already bathing together pretty frequently before we were engaged, weren't we…?"
"S-staring today, you can share a bedroom too, you know? I'm totally… yeah, totally fine with it…!"
"Viola, your face says you're anything but fine… If it embarrasses you that much, you didn't have to say anything…"
Viola, the one who made the proposal, was now so flustered she looked as though steam might pour from her face at any moment.
She desperately tried to perk Rest up, worried that he was feeling down.
"…It's okay, I'm feeling better now."
Seeing his fiancée like that, Rest couldn't help but smile wryly.
Here he was, moping over his worthless former family, when he had a fiancée who cared enough about him to go to such lengths. What was there to brood over?
"You don't have to push yourselves so hard — being with the two of you is already cheering me up. Truly… I'm so glad I met you…"
"Rest…"
"Rest, Master…"
A sweet, warm atmosphere settled over the three of them.
But before long, Primula chimed in with a mischievous grin.
"But… let's take a bath together. And for sleeping, we can push two beds together side by side so all three of us can fit!"
"Wh—what!?"
"It'll be fine. We're his fiancées, after all… Mother even said there'd be no problem as long as we use contraception!"
Without a trace of embarrassment, Primula dropped this bombshell so casually that Viola and Rest both leaned back in shock.